Song Ci --

Nian Nu Qiao . Red Cliff Battle

《念奴嬌》蘇軾英文版

Translated by Lin Shan

The great river surges east,

Its waves have soured away

Since time began all traces of heroic man.

The western side of the old fort

Was once, so people say,

Known as the Red Cliff of Zhou of the Three Kingdoms.

With piled-up rocks to stab the sky

And waves to shake them thunderously

Churning the frothy mass to mounds of snow,

It's like a masterpiece in paint.

Those ages hide how many a hero!

Think back to those old days;

that first year when Zhou Yu had just been married to the Little Qiao.

Then, what a hero he became!

With waving fan and silken cap

He talked and laughed at ease

While masts and oars were blotted out in smoke and flame!

My wits that stray to realms of old

Deserve the scorn of all who feel;

Years pass, and hair grows white so soon.

Though a man's life is like a dream,

One toast continues still -- the River and the Moon!